Category: Business

Do you ever wonder how most coffee shops have dim lighting? Last week I was hanging out at a dimly-lit Starbucks sweet-binging my week frustrations away when a light bulb went off in my head (pun intended). The fact that I was questioning that is a testament to a coffee shop marketing strategy that works.

I’ve read articles about how the pineal gland produces more melatonin, a hormone which controls our body’s circadian rhythm, most especially in dim lighting. Controlling the brightness of the light signals the pineal gland to produce more melatonin and induces drowsiness. The brain is tricked to think it needs to stay awake and we eventually hanker for another coffee cup or refill. Together with additional espresso shots, the efficiency of dim lighting in coffee shops is magnified and your mind cannot stop spewing ideas.

Sometime last year I used to hang out in another coffee shop to work on long pages of translation documents and I remember spending 5 hours in 4 or 5 consecutive days to get the job done. It was ideal to stay there starting lunch time up to pre-sunset. When the sun sets the staff pulls down the window blinds and it gets dimly-lit from then on and I found it hard to concentrate – along with less brightness was my waning interest in work and I get tempted to pack up and go. But what happens after I switch to another brightly-lit area is my brain starts to function again and I would want to pick up where I left off.

I made a mental note of that and told myself if I ever work on long pages of translations again I would move to a brighter place to hang out. I counted local coffee shops I’ve been in and controlled brightness of the light in the room is never absent.

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There has been a technical problem with GCash mobile app lately and it affects both the Android and Apple versions. Two weeks ago when using my GCash app to withdraw funds from PayPal to GCash, the mobile app would prompt me that my PayPal account has not been linked or that I need to re-link my PayPal account to my GCash account.

The problem with re-linking it is it duplicates the Pre-approved Payments Plan code recorded in your PayPal account for the same Globe GCash mobile number. You would have to log in to your PayPal again and delete the older Pre-approved Payments Plan code.

The other issue from which the same GCash technical problem would arise is if you are alternately using two or more Globe GCash numbers to access your GCash mobile app in Android or on an iPhone. When the cache on your phone has not been cleared or reset, the GCash mobile app would give you an error prompt about re-linking your account which should have only been the case for one Globe GCash number as users are only allowed to connect one PayPal account. Avoid having to alternate frequently between numbers.

If you aren’t aware of it yet, Android and iPhone do not roll out the update simultaneously. Android version of the GCash mobile app may release a more updated version earlier than on its Apple counterpart. I have observed this marked difference and it is the reason why I keep an Android and an iPhone and have the GCash mobile app installed on both. There was a time when my GCash account showed up as Unverified on the iPhone version while I was Verified on the Android. Of course, I had to break my own rule to stop alternating GCash numbers and had to do my GCash transactions on the Verified version. In fact, three days ago I experienced a coded error on my Android’s GCash after having successfully cashed in from PayPal to GCash. When I went to my iPhone’s GCash, I didn’t experience any errors at all.

My first GCash number showing up as Unverified account on an iPhoneMy second GCash account also showing up as Unverified on an iPhone

Hope these few tips helped. Always remember you do not need to keep re-linking your account to PayPal as it could only be a temporary system glitch.

In case your GCash balance has already been deducted because of a system glitch, simply fill out this Dispute Form and e-mail it to gcashinquiries@globe.com.ph.

Update: January 7, 2018

For a few months I had been using my sister’s GCash account for PayPal to GCash cash-ins because of this relinking error. Last Wednesday, in the middle of doing the cash-in on the GCash mobile app on my Android using my sister’s GCash account, that dreaded “Please Try Relinking Your PayPal Account To Your GCash Wallet” error appeared. What I did was tell my sister to transfer back to me the remaining USD to my PayPal account from hers because I wanted to see if I could finally relink my own GCash account to PayPal using the GCash mobile app on my iPhone. The relink turned out to be successful and I was able to resume my PayPal to GCash cash-in.

Update: February 22, 2018

Yesterday I encountered the same error and was not able to do a PayPal to GCash cash-in. In order to get my funds, I requested my sister to exchange my PayPal USD into PHP with the help of a trusted currency exchanger. Today, I received a text notification from GCash that they are temporarily suspending the PayPal to GCash cash-in. We’ll have to be patient until this service resumes.

Update: February 26, 2018

GCash has sent out this update:

“Hi there! We’re pleased to inform you that the PayPal to GCash service has been restored. We appreciate your patience and understanding. Thank you.”

Update: May 9, 2018

I encountered this dreadful error again but thankfully the GCash mobile app worked just fine after the re-linking. I was able to proceed with my cash-in right after. Here are my screenshots for this day:

Update: June 13, 2018

For two weeks now I have seen the error message “Sorry, we are unable to proceed with your cash-in request” when I try to do a PayPal to GCash cash-in. The good news is you can still proceed with a successful cash-in by clicking on Retry. Again, ALWAYS WITHDRAW IN INCREMENTS OF $25-$29. Doing cash-ins in alternate amounts between $25 and $29 is safer and I had lesser problems with delayed cash-ins.

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As a precautionary measure, we should do our research when it comes to online ads before we confirm a shipment. Online selling/shopping has its risks.

My cousin recently posted her online ad on OLX for an iPhone 6s she was selling. An eager, wait, too eager buyer responded to her online ad and immediately proceeded to making the so-called direct money transfer. There are many red flags, however, with this direct money transfer.

The email address onlineverificationdepartment@accountant.com – One Google search will tell you that @accountant.com has frequently been associated with online scammers.

The Payment Approved logo, upon doing a Google search image, has a different filename.

The orange logo with the text Send Money Worldwide belongs to Ria Financial.

The disclaimer about the escrow payment. This puts the seller in a precarious position because no funds have been received by the seller and the buyer is requesting for the item to be shipped.

It’s signed by Direct Money Transfer Service but there is no link to a website that you can click through. Nowhere in the email is a clickable link indicating which financial or remittance agency the wire transfer was supposedly made from.

Copyrighted by Continental Exchange Solutions, Inc., which Ria Financial is a part of. However, the Track a Transfer in Ria Financial Services’ website does not return a valid money transfer starting with DMT.

The logos, like any other in the email, cannot be clicked through.

Be warned when you come across an email address coming from @accountant.com especially when it comes to payments.

On behalf of my cousin, I replied to the interested buyer that we will put the shipment on hold until the payment has been received. He was requesting to have the iPhone 6s sent to an address in Balibago, Angeles, Pampanga to a different recipient. I made it clear to him that I did contact Direct-Money.com (seeing as their logo was used in the email confirmation for the wire transfer) via the Hong Kong phone number. I spoke with a Nigel Hazell who was kind enough to verify after I forwarded the email confirmation with their logo on it that the transfer was not done via their company nor their partner agencies.

The interested buyer somehow got defensive in his subsequent email replies. His scam has been exposed and he has been found guilty. He literally wanted my cousin to cancel the shipment while he sulks his sorry, guilty, pathetic ass. Never mind the bad punctuation. The syntax strangely reminds me of those Nigerian scam emails.

It’s so bad because it seems he doesn’t know how to communicate. He DID see the pictures of the phone in the OLX online ad and in the OLX private chat my cousin did send him a few additional images of the phone. He continued to evade my question about which remittance agency in the Philippines the money can be claimed if indeed he was being truthful about the wire transfer. He went on with his ad hominems and I told my cousin to desist replying to him. It’s a shame other legit companies like Direct-Money.com and RiaFinancial.com have been dragged into this direct money transfer scam to make it look like the bogus wire transfer was real.

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I bought a keyboard protector on Amazon using GCash Amex a few weeks ago and it was a breeze. Most Amazon purchases cannot go through if you don’t have a US address but because of GCash Amex, Philippine residents can now conveniently shop in Amazon.

It’s all really elementary but I would like to specify one issue when shopping and checking out on Amazon – it’s very important to mind the BILLING ADDRESS and the SHIPPING ADDRESS when you’re registering your GCash Amex on your Amazon profile. Don’t assume your billing address in GCash Amex to be similar to the shipping address indicated in your My Shopping Box account. If you got the process correct, you won’t have to scratch your head wondering why you got an e-mail notification from Amazon with the heading “Your payment has been declined.”

GCash Amex Billing Address

My Shopping Box Shipping Address

In short, you look for the BILLING ADDRESS in your GCASH AMEX account details and the SHIPPING ADDRESS in your MY SHOPPING BOX account.

Soon after your purchase you will then receive an e-mail from My Shopping Box that the item you purchased on Amazon has arrived at your US address/My Shopping Box shipping address. Authorizing the package for shipment entails that you pay for the required shipping fee from the US address to your Philippine address. I used my GCash Amex for this process, too, and here is the video for it:

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I’ve been using the Grab mobile app since late last year when it was still known as Grab Taxi and I had no complaints regarding their drivers or the taxi service in general. This month, though, I did send feedback to their Support team regarding the CDOGRAB PhP20 off promo code. Under the CDOGRAB promo code, a Grab user is supposed to get PhP20 off their ride within the city centre of Cagayan de Oro.

One afternoon I entered CDOGRAB in the promo code field when booking a ride to a local mall. It’s important to enter the promo code in the field provided before the mobile app can search for a Grab taxi driver near your location. I was waiting for the driver to acknowledge that I entered a promo code because something in me knew he wouldn’t honor the said promo code. I wasn’t wrong, it turned out, because the taxi meter said the amount I incurred was PhP54.00 but he still charged me the full amount. When I opened my smartphone to check the actual rate in Grab mobile app, I saw PhP34.00 instead of PhP54.00. Of course the driver saw that in his system, too, and I bet he was secretly wishing I would pay the full amount up front.

I have no problem with paying the full amount and I understand taxi drivers may not always see profitable days as often as they wish. I stopped using the CDOGRAB promo code because the first (and last) time I claimed it, it didn’t go too well. Either Grab eliminate the useless promo codes altogether or they make sure the promo codes are a win-win situation for their drivers and passengers alike.

To this day, I have not gotten a response regarding that inquiry I sent about the CDOGRAB promo code. It’s strange because few days after that I did send an entirely different inquiry about a bug I found in the Grab mobile app and have gotten a prompt response for it.

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As a hospitality business gets bigger, it needs to upgrade the various systems it uses to facilitate its growing operations. Jinisys Software, the Philippines’ premier Software Engineering Company, is a very capable ally in this department. For a hotel industry, for instance, Jinisys Software will fulfill your essential requisites for an automated hotel management system, saving your burgeoning company from the tedious herculean task of manual data input. Software systems such as Folio Plus, Event Plus and In-House Plus, which are suitable for MS SQL, MySQL and/or Oracle database environments, can be integrated into your current hotel management system to streamline hotel operations. To keep up with the smartphone frenzy, Jinisys Software has also come up with JTracker, their own mobile application which can be accessed via an iPhone, Android or Windows smartphone.

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